Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt: Pieced At Last!

Today I’m definitely celebrating. Not only is it a long weekend for many people in the USA, but I also finished piecing my Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt. Perhaps you remember I started making this quilt last summer with the fun folks at Camp Oda May (the Moda Bake Shop).

I took a break at the last round of the medallion because (a) I wanted to simplify the block and (b) I thought I’d mix in some soon-to-be-released Garden Variety fabrics with the Nest fabrics. In the end, that was all faulty thinking.

Mindless Sewing

I did choose to make a simpler block for my final round. However, I did not mix in additional fabrics and I complicated my “easy block.” I stitched this quilt over a year’s span; therefore, I kept notes of my progress to jog my memory whenever I picked up the project again. Unfortunately for me, my notes were a bit too cryptic. I needed a total of 48 blocks. So, I was supposed to cut 96 squares of fabric, then use 48 squares for four-patches and the other 48 squares to frame them.

quilt block assembly plan — How would you decipher that little note?

That’s all well and good if you have your thinking cap on. But I did not. I started mindlessly sewing four-patches using Jenny Doan’s easy method. No thinking required—and so fun! So far, so good.

I was having so much fun that I sewed all 96 squares together, totally forgetting that I needed half of them to complete my block. Aargh! It wasn’t that big of a deal, except I had specifically planned to use low-volume non-directional prints to frame the four-patches. Now I had to cut out 48 more squares from my remaining fabric, which I had previously set aside because they were directional prints or too busy.

Now I really did need to wear my thinking cap! (Do people still use this expression?) I managed to cut all my directional prints correctly so the prints lined up on the block. Then I trimmed them up with my fancy-schmancy 8-inch spinning mat (affiliate link). Wow, this saved time! These blocks must be perfectly sized for a medallion quilt to work, so assembling and then trimming to size is the way to go.

Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt: Photo Overload

Friends, I am giddy with delight. This is my favorite quilt I’ve ever made! I love the colors and the pattern. The quilt top measures 72-inches square, but it’ll shrink a bit once it’s quilted. I’m sending this baby off to a professional quilter once I piece the backing and create the Camp Oda May label.

Summer Vibes

Summer is my favorite season, and this Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt captures so much of what I love about summer: blue skies reflecting on water below, green stuff growing everywhere, pink sunsets, and yellow sunshine. Here are a few scenes from my summer so far.